Book Review: Summer Reading List

I've done quite a bit of reading this summer and since I'm a slacker, its about time I start reviewing these crap-tastic beach reads I decide to melt my brain away with this summer. Enjoy! 

Fifty Shades of Gray: Is a description even necessary. We all know (and love) the raunchy tales of Anastasia and Christian Grey. Is the writing good? Hell no. But the raunchy details are what keep you fantasizing reading. The story was stupid, the characters were poorly developed and very one dimensional, the plot was predictable and the writing was very basic. But my copy of the book has been passed around the office and my house and everyone can't get enough. What? Sometimes you just need a dirty read.

Fifty Shades Darker: And the sex continues. The story line gets even stupider and less realistic. The plot development is even less fascinating. But gotta keep going for those juicy parts...

Fifty Shades Freed: Come on, murder? Lets get real here people. The sexiness severely decreased, and so did my interest. Don't get me wrong, I still read with the same ferocity that I started the book series with, but my interest severely tapered off as the story line got even more ridiculous. And the way it ended? Get real. No way, no how would the real world work like that. 

Chasing Harry Winston: A dumb beach read to say the least. I like the authors writing style, but I can't say the plot really drew me in. It revolves around three girls and a pact they make when one is at a crossroad in their life. One vows to sleep with more men. The other, a beautiful, rich, serial dater, to stay in a monogamous relationship (and end a year later with a ring on her finger). And the third, the one with the perfect life, makes her own vow to end her "perfect" relationship. Since it was an easy, mindless read, I finished it quickly, but I can't say I would recommend it to a friend. There is no real character development and the plot is simple and cliche. 

Girls in White Dresses: This book is dumb. I can't say I really enjoyed it. The book is described as revolving around a group of girls and their lives full of weddings, bridal showers and marriage; events that they resent. In actuality, its the narrative of a bunch of girls and their love lives with some smatterings of weddings, etc. It details the girls in their twenties and the types of relationships they find themselves in and the men they end up with. Since its a compilation of a bunch of girls stories, their lives weaving together, there isn't much development. You don't get to really know each of the characters and in the beginning its hard to keep track of how they all know each other and who's who. And since the story itself was weak, there wasn't much keeping me reading, except for the fact that I always need to finish a book I start and its due back to the library this week. Oh, and the fact that it takes half a brain to read so I finished it in a couple days. 

I'll Walk Alone: I've always been a fan of Mary Higgins Clark, but this isn't one of my favorite books. Its about a mom, Zan, who's son was kidnapped two years previously. Now, she thinks someone is trying to impersonate her, but no one believes her and she is being blamed for her sons kidnapping. Out to find the truth, its an amateur sleuth novel with little to no complexity. I can't say I guessed who did it from the beginning, but the reasons why they did it were just plain stupid. And why did all of this take two years to play out? Two years her son is missing and then bam! four days after the anniversary of his disappearance, the story concludes. Really? 

How to Teach Filthy Rich Girls: This is another quick and easy beach read. It about a girl who tutors two very rich and very bitchy teenagers in Florida in exchange for her student loan payment in full. While trying to teach these girls, she is met with resiliance and as a way to justify her very mediocre life decision, she starts collecting research to write a very juicy expose on the girls. Well, OBVIOUSLY she comes to befriend the girls and can't publish the piece. Who would have guessed that right? Again, another mindless read for lunch breaks and days at the beach. 

Bed of Roses: I got this book when I finished Easy Money in the New Orleans airport and needed something to read on the flight home. The book selection in the airport sucked ass, and since I wasn't paying $20 for a hardback book I had moderate interest in reading, I was stuck with this one. While I didn't hate it, I can't say I'd go around broadcasting that everyone should buy it immediately. Its part of a "bride quartlet", and each girl has their own book. This particular one revolves around Emma, who is the florist in the group, and her search for romance and "Mr. Right". Apparently she's beautiful, a great dater and she's fallen for her best friend, a serial dater and one with a fear of commitment. Obviously she wins him over and they fall madly in love, blah, blah, blah. You know the story. Its the usual, never going to happen like this. No ones this successful in such a perfect way. Yes it held my attention, but since it only took me two days to finish, you and I both know there was no character development and it was yet another stupid beach read. And the worst part? I'll probably read the other three books. Just so I get the full story. Because I'm dumb like that. 

Easy Money: My mom gave me this book to read when I handed her the 50 Shades series and she realized she'd checked out library books she wouldn't get to for awhile. Critics compare Jens Lapidus's writting to Stieg Larssons and I can easily see why. This book is a compilation of three main characters narration. One is high up in the cocaine business in Sweden, the second is a young boy trying to fit in with the high rollers in Sweden without the funds to back him and the third is a lowly drug dealer or busted out of prison and is looking to get back in the business. It starts out slow, with ample character development and motivation, similar to Larsoon's writing, but then each of the characters narration slowly starts to intersect and finally ending with a big drug deal involving all of the characters. When I started reading this novel, I didn't think I enjoyed it, but as I pushed through, it held my interest and I ended up finishing most of it to/from New Orleans on the plane and in the airports. I'd say this is probably one of the better books I've read this summer and I'd recommend it. 

I never said summer was full of literary classics now did I? What can I say, I like to zone out and read filth during the warmer months. Its how I get my fix when the t.v. lineup in on summer sucktastic reruns. Hopefully the books I pick up for the second half of the summer with have a little more depth. 

What are your summer reads? Any recommendations? 

Book Review: Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Have any of you read this book? My good friends Meaghan and Mari recommended it because they adore it, but honestly, it took me foorreeevveerr to finish; I could not for the life of me get into it. It revolves around a young boy searching the five Burroughs of New York City in search of the owner of a mysterious key his late father had hidden before he passed in the 9/11 plane crash. The story touches upon the new dynamic between himself and his mother after the death of his dad and also the relationship between his grandmother, himself and his grandfather, who the boy has never met. There are a lot of stories all mixed in between the main narration, which proved difficult to follow, at least for me. It wasn't until more than halfway through the book that the narration clicked and I was able to follow who was speaking at what times. I really enjoyed the end of the book, but it was a long road to get to that point. If you want my honest opinion, I don't think I will be recommending this book to anyone anytime soon (sorry Mari and Meaghan!). 

In my opinion:

Book Review: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

This was another recommended book by my mother. I didn't quite grasp the topic. Was it fiction? non-fiction? It is a non-fiction novel revolving around the ever-so-popular HeLa cells. HeLa was the first immortal cells created in a lab and were originally taken the cervical cancer of a women named Henrietta Lacks. HeLa cells have made millions in the scientific community and have contributed to the Polio vaccination, nuclear bombs and the cells have even been sent to space. While they are so popular and helpful, the family of Henrietta did not authorize the collection of these cells and did not see a cent of profit from their mother's cells. The book touches upon many ethical concerns and sort of outlines sciences progression when handling human collections and even addresses ownership of cells (patients don't always own things removed from their body just because its was once a part of them). I thought it was a very informative and interesting read, and I'm not much of a non-fiction reader. My only complaint is the ending and the emphasis on Henrietta's daughter Dorothy's life. It starts out strong and then kind of dulls out towards the end. But other than that, I'd recommend it to anyone with interest in science, history or a just a good read.

In my opinion:

Book Review: The Snowman

My brother had this book on his Amazon wish list and since wish lists make Christmas shopping unbelievably easy, I bought it for him along with a couple others. I had heard great things about this book, so I decided to check it out from the library and read it myself (can you tell i'm impatient and cheap?). I didn't have much knowledge about the topic of the book, so I was pleasantly surprised. It was a fairly easy read, except for some foreign names and locations, since its a translated book. Its revolves around a serial killer that uses snowman's as his signature. The main character had some training in the U.S. with the FBI on how to catch serial killers, so his superiors are skeptical when he claims the snowman murders are done by a serial killer, assuming he is just relying on his recent training. It got a few surprising twists and isn't your cookie cutter, predictable murder mystery (**cough** like James Patterson **cough**). I thoroughly enjoyed the novel and would recommend it. 

Have any of you ever read it? Your thoughts?

In my opinion:

Book Review: Chronicles of a Midlife Crisis

This was the second of the two random books I picked from the library and while the first pick was great, this one sucked major spit. And I have this problem where even if a book sucks, I have to finish it. Don't know why, I guess I need to know how it ends or something but its a problem. Boyfriend kept asking me why I was reading it if every time he asked how my book was I said I hated it but I just fed him my line about having to finish what I started. So ladies and gentlemen, I do not recommend this book unless to enjoy mindless reading focusing on a husband walking out on his wife and daughter to "find himself" only to fall into bed with a psychotic coworker, leaving his wife to start shmoozing with her coworker and famous teen actor (who is actually in his late twenties), whom her daughter is subsequently crushing on. Its stupid, implausible and just a waste of your time. 

In my opinion:

(0 out of 5 stars)

Book Review: Best Kept Secret

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I think I finished it in one weekend while I was traveling on the Megabus to and from NYC. I usually don't gravitate towards books dealing with addiction unless they're recommended to me, but the last time I was in the library I decided to step out on a limb and check out two random books just for the heck of it and this happened to be one of them. It revolves around a mother suffering from alcohol addition (more specifically wine) after her divorce and the adjustment to raising her son alone. It splits the narrative into pre-addiction (where she details her fall into addiction and her lowest point) and recovery (where she describes the emotional struggle of recovery and her custody battle for her son). The book kept my attention the whole time and gave a new perspective on addiction. How sometimes even the most unlikely individuals can find themselves needing something to help cope with the stresses of their daily lives. Even if novels focusing on addiction aren't your forte, I highly suggest this read. 

In my opinion: 

Book Review: Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang

While I don't watch Chelsea Lately most of the time, I do find Chelsea Handler a riot. I read her first book, Are You There Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea and though it was hysterical, and her follow up book was nothing short of side splitting laughs. I wonder if this is completely biographical because I just feel like someones life should not be this outlandishly funny. I finished this book in a few days because it was so entertaining and I just didn't want to put it down. I recommend this to all who aren't easily offended and enjoy souless pranks and whitty banter. 

In my opinion:

Book Review: Bossypants

Oh Tina Fey, how you crack me up! Bossypants was an enjoyable read full of one-liners and whitty advice. While I've never followed 30 Rock, I am a Tina Fey fan. Her book walks you through her life from summers at acting camp to her time on SNL, her daughter and her double life as Sarah Palin. I finished it in a weekend and would definitely recommend it to a friend for a quick pick-me-up kind of read.

Book Rating:

Book Review: Saving CeeCee Honeycutt

Man! I've been waayyy behind on my reading these days. Normally I'm busting out a book every week or every couple of weeks. Guess that's what happens when your working, living half your week out of a suitcase and dealing with screwy sleep schedules that have you acting like a 4-year-old without a nap (we're talking whiny, temperamental and emotional here people. Not my proudest moments). Oh the joys of post-graduation! But I finally finished Saving CeeCee Honeycutt and while I didn't find it the most captivating of novels, I did enjoy its sweet message and lighthearted nature. It was an easy-read kind of novel that chronicles the transitional phase of a young girl after her bipolar mother passes away and she uproots her life in Ohio to live with her great aunt in Georgia. 

Have any of you read it? What were your thoughts?

In My Opinion: